ABOUT US

The Philosophy

The philosophy at M Cellars is simple: provide an authentic product and experience that showcases the attention to detail, focus, and execution of the vision to the clients. At M there is a passion and pursuit of greatness to produce world-class wines from the estate vines at which they are farmed.

The Proprietors

Matt & Tara Meineke are visionaries, first generation farmers, winemakers, entrepreneurs and proud parents of two wonderful daughters, Amelia and Madelyn. The couple met while working together at a hardware store in the small town of Chesterland, Ohio. Both Matt and Tara had successful careers prior to their entrepreneurial journey, Matt as a VW automotive technician and Tara as a special education teacher. In 2007 they acquired prime land with a vision to plant European Vitis Vinifera grape vines. The planting of the original winery property was completed between the years of 2008 and 2009. Both enjoy spending time growing and producing estate hand crafted wines, managing select growers’ vineyards while expanding their current farm operation. However the most rewarding part of running the business is immersing the children in all the madness while enjoying every second of the journey!

The Vision

Matt and Tara believed that world-class wine production was possible in Northeast Ohio, hence the inception of M Cellars. When the project started, the vision guided the pursuit of premium wine-growing and production in the Grand River Valley. With much credit to the Niagara-On-The-Lake region of Ontario, a high bar was set. M Cellars established itself as the benchmark for quality winegrowing and production in the Eastern USA.

The Vineyard

The estate vineyards surrounding the winery are planted with Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These vineyards are densely spaced at over 1000 vines per acre and trained on the VSP (vertical shoot positioning) system. This training and planting method allows efficient control of crop size per plant, canopy management for maximum fruit exposure and most importantly affords a precise selection of high-quality fruit at harvest.

Winemaking

The winemaking approach respects the varietal character of each wine produced, while showing off terroir and vintage in the most expressive way possible. Starting with crush, European equipment is utilized from the destemmer to a large membrane press and into stainless steel jacketed temperature control tanks. During fermentation, precise temperature control is crucial to preserve aromatics and varietal character. Post fermentation aging for red wines occur in oak barrels which consist of fine Hungarian, French and American oak. Bottling is performed on site with a mobile bottling service which preserves overall quality.